As a professional film critic — whatever that may be — I have a handful of concrete rules by which I ply my ostensible trade, and not reviewing films by or heavily involving close friends is one of them. Which presents a bit of a problem when tasked with writing about any given Muppet movie.

No, I can't claim I've ever knocked back a beer with Kermit the Frog, gone shopping with Miss Piggy or got close to any of the cloth-skinned crowd without the dividing wall of a television screen between us, but damn it if I don't feel closer to them than I do to any number of human names in my address book. Growing up, I knew their vaudeville numbers inside out. I'd record the umpteenth rerun of even the Crystal Gayle episode with completist's excitement. And I treasured my Kermit toothbrush until the bristles began falling out, ignoring the fact that he wasn't the most dentally appropriate role model.

Still, love isn't blindness: I've forgivingly acknowledged when The Muppets have collectively misstepped, as they (and their flesh-and-blood controllers) did rather too often in their later years. “Muppets From Space” and “Muppet Treasure Island,” in particular, were tawdry misapplications of their scatty showbiz appeal, which is why 2011's back-to-basics “The Muppets” was such a gratifying return. Their act works best when it sticks, in name and nature, to their variety-show roots, and the delightful “Muppets Most Wanted” wisely follows suit.

That's perhaps the only respect in which James Bobin's chipper, deliberately shabby film might be called “wise.” Exuberant silliness is the order of the day, with Bobin and co-writer Nicholas Stoller firing cheap sight gags, gloriously terrible puns and random, daffy star cameos at the crowd like so many chickens launched squawking from a cannon. Some land, some don't — I was cackling too consistently to keep score — but until an oddly sluggish final reel, the onslaught is deliciously relentless, like being beaten over the head with a marshmallow pillow, and taking a bite with each blow.

“The Muppets” was such a blessedly zappy relief that it was easy to overlook its tonal and structural shortcomings: an influsion of 21st-century irony that didn't seem entirely coordinated with the gang's own sense of self-satire, and a quest narrative driven by colorless new recruit Walter (okay, he's sort of tangerine, but insipid all the same) that didn't leave enough room for familiar favorites to cut loose. The first scene of “Muppets Most Wanted” picks up, rather ingeniously, right where the last film's closing number left off, and that same ironic distance initially seems to have hung around: an introductory song about the inferiority of sequels (written with customarily cockeyed fizz by Bret McKenzie, the best human friend the franchise could hope for) is certainly clever, but threatens a film more about Muppet mythos than The Muppets themselves.

Happily, it's little more than a threat, as Bobin and Stoller sally forth with a daft yarn that combines the series' steadfast storytelling modes of chaotic backstage drama and, well, a great Muppet caper. Now reunited, The Muppets immediately sign up with plainly sleazy talent manager Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) and embark on an ill-rehearsed European tour — little realizing that their act is a mere front for a series of bank heists engineered by dastardly Kermit lookalike Konstantin. Mistaken identity games naturally ensue, with Kermit hauled off to a Russian gulag ruled with a travel-iron fist by Tina Fey's Broadway-loving wardress. Konstantin, meanwhile, gives the bemused Muppets free rein over their show, with amusingly calamitous results. (If there's anything keeping “Muppets Most Wanted” from an A- grade, it's that we only get a few tantalizing seconds of Miss Piggy's flamingo-assisted “Macarena” rendition.)

This is far closer to the bittier, plottier rhythm of The Muppets' first three film ventures, and that's a pretty welcome throwback — only in the final reel, an over-extended wedding climax at the Tower of London that's surprisingly short on planted gags, does the contraption begin to creak. (At 106 minutes, the film may be a smidge too much of a good thing.) You'll either go with the flow or you won't, and much the same goes for the film's loopy brand of anti-humor: be it a Berlin taxi headed for “Plotpointberg” or an onstage cameo from Christoph Waltz dancing the, er, waltz, the very best Muppet jokes are the ones that least bear scrutiny.

Bobin obviously isn't taking the proceedings seriously — aside from the indefatigably earnest Kermit, who is? But he's also a man who knows that absurdity requires absolute commitment: a casually invested journeyman couldn't pull off the more ambitiously inspired lunacy of Fey's riotous, Mel Brooks-worthy “In the Gulag” production number, which may well the franchise's finest moment to feature no Muppets at all. Still, the greatest rewards of this warmly scattershot outing are those that find the comfy motley crew sparking and sparring off each other, indulging in their own ageless shtick and resisting too many new tricks. (Hey, even Walter blends in this time round.) Everything old is old again in “Muppets Most Wanted,” and while admitting to a certain friendly bias, I wouldn't want it any other way.

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Great review. I have often dreamed of being of “being beaten over the head with a marshmallow pillow”!

I love Tina Fey and am curious – does she get a satisfying amount of screen time?

Also – how does Ricky Gervais fare in the film? I actually think his subversive sense of humour (reined in) has the potential to be well suited to the Muppets.

By: GuyLodge

03.20.2014 @ 12:47 AM

Fey’s role is fairly substantial — she and Gervais are the two principal human players. Gervais is pretty game, and clearly having a good time.

By: forg

03.20.2014 @ 12:50 AM

Tina Fey has one delightful musical number where she was terrific

Ricky also had one fantastic musical number with Evil Kermit ;D

By: Andrew

03.19.2014 @ 10:17 PM

Glad to hear you really dug it, Guy. The trailers haven’t really done much for me, and that’s coming from a huge fan of Bobin’s first outing, so this has probably convinced me to see it sooner rather than later.

By: T

03.20.2014 @ 12:41 AM

Absolutely great movie! Very funny, I am going to see it again, I expected it to be silly but walked away very impressed, The Muppets are very much like Pixar in that they can approach adult themes with very funny and witty child like innocence, it makes comedy much more satisfying, once people realize they don’t need to take fun movies like this so serious you will enjoy the ride! And as far as Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais, there is plenty of them in the movie and mesh very well with The Muppets, I hope they find a way to bring her back for another movie, she is fantastic in it!

By: forg

03.20.2014 @ 12:53 AM

Tina Fey actually deserves a Golden Globe nomination for Comedy/Musical actress since she was so fun in both the musical and comedic parts ;D But of course that won’t likely happen since this is a March release and the movie will be forgotten by then

By: forg

03.20.2014 @ 12:49 AM

It opened here in the Philippines and yesterday and it was so fun! The musical numbers were so entertaining!
Bret deserves another Oscar nod or two!

By: forg

03.20.2014 @ 12:52 AM

“– only in the final reel, an over-extended wedding climax at the Tower of London that’s surprisingly short on planted gags, does the contraption begin to creak”

Yeah that part started to drag but Kermit’s praise for their “amazing” action sequence saved it for me

By: JohnD

03.20.2014 @ 12:52 AM

That’s a tall order for “best non-Muppet Muppet Movie Moment,” considering that “Man or Muppet” didn’t involve any of the name players either.

By: Danny

03.20.2014 @ 7:46 PM

Being familiar with Berlin’s “Prenzlauer Berg”, your description of the Berlin taxi heading to “Plotpointberg” put a huge grin on my face.

By: Andrej

03.21.2014 @ 3:28 AM

I fear this is gonna sound like I’m a massive piece of shit, but Muppets Most Wanted was… uh, just okay.

It’s charming, fun, very playful, but I thought it was pretty unfocused. You could say the focus now is in the situation at hand rather than developing characters, but… that only makes the situation at hand less memorable because we have barely anything to do with these very memorable characters. Even Walter’s taking a super-back seat this time around, so much so his role could’ve been replaced by any other Muppet just fine.

And this wouldn’t be so bad if Konstantin wasn’t this… just-okay character. He’s far from hateable or boring, true, but… he doesn’t really interact with the Muppets. And he’s the lead-ish here, all things considered. I mean, you could say it’s a heist movie with the Muppets and just be fine with that, that sounds awesome no matter what. But I feel I barely saw any Muppets this time around. At least, Muppets I truly cared about.

But still, an “ok” Muppets movie is way better than most movies out there.